SOC-101 Ch. 1 Q

Émile Durkheim's study on suicide found that suicide rates went up when the economy slumped, but they also increased when the economy boomed. Which of Durkheim's concepts explains why both positive and negative economic conditions could increase suicide rates?

Anomie.

Max Weber believed that modern industrialized societies were characterized by which of the following institutions?

Bureaucracies.

Many everyday cultural practices such as greeting a friend, giving someone flowers, or using the thumbs-up sign seem like natural ways of acting. Why does having an awareness of how these practices vary across cultures demonstrate a healthy sociological imagination?

It reminds us that everyday interactions are connected to larger societies and norms.

Which of the following is a latent function of the educational system in the United States?

Keeping children out of trouble while parents are at work.

Harriet Martineau supported many ideas that were radical for her time including

Labor unions and the abolition of slavery.

According to Robert Merton, which of these statements about manifest functions is true?

Manifest functions are intended and obvious.

Symbolic interactionism argues that people act toward things on the basis of their meaning. According to this perspective, how does meaning arise?

Meaning is negotiated through interaction with others.

Sociology can be defined as the systematic and scientific study of human society and social behavior, from ________ to ________.

large-scale institutions; individual interactions.

What is a paradigm?

A set of assumptions, theories, and perspectives that makes up a way of understanding social reality.

Structural functionalist theory is concerned with the ways in which structures contribute to the stability of society. What is a structure?

A social institution that is stable over time and helps meet the needs of society

Sociology can be approached from both a microsociological and a macrosociological perspective. Which is more useful?

Both are useful in different ways because they each provide different types of information about the same object of study.

What economic system emerged during the Industrial Revolution?

Capitalism.

Critical race theory is associated with which of the major theoretical perspectives or schools of thought in sociology?

Conflict theory.

What term did Karl Marx use to describe the fact that most of the population accepts inequality even when it does not benefit them personally?

False consciousness.

True or False: There is only one correct theoretical explanation for any particular social phenomenon.

False.

Which of the following theories views society as a whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together?

Structural functionalism.

Which social theory focuses on micro-level interactions?

Symbolic interactionism.

What is the sociological imagination?

The ability to understand the connections between biography and history or the self and the world.

According to symbolic interactionism, what is the relationship between the self and society?

The self is shaped by society, but society is also shaped by the self.

Even though we are not all trained academically as sociologists, we can all be considered "everyday actors" because

We are all members of society and have background knowledge about how society works.